Bhakti remains unbeaten; wins by record margin!

Commonwealth Under 18 Girls Champion Bhakti
Kulkarni (ELO 2112) drew her last round game with National
Under 17 Champion R. Preethi of Tamil Nadu (ELO 2109)
to remain unbeaten in the National Junior Girls Chess
Championship which concluded here at Nagpur today.

At the outset of the game, Goa's wondergirl Bhakti
offered a draw to her reputed rival from down South.
However, her opponent refused as she was trying to
seal the runner up position for herself. Nevertheless,
as the game progressed, it was Preethi who found
herself in a spot of bother and she landed up offering
the draw which Bhakti gladly accepted.

With this result, Bhakti finishes with 10 out of a possible
11 points and stays unbeaten in this gruelling event.
The margin of 2 points over her nearest rivals is a record
as well as the fact that she is the first girl after Koneru
Humpy to have won the Juniors title while still being
eligible for the Subjunior category!

For the stastically inclined, Bhakti's performance of 9 points
against 10 rated players of an average ELO rating of 2119 points
will translate into a rating performance of 2219 in the event
wherein she will gain 61 points.

Dronacharya awardee, Raghunandan Gokhale, who is
also Bhakti's coach attributes her 'dream run' to the
Blessings of the Almighty.

Main results (final round) - 1. R. Preethi drew with Bhakti Kulkarni
2. Mary Ann Gomes drew with P. Lakshmi Sahiti 3. Pon. N. Krithika
beat Kiran Manisha Mohanty 4. Kruttika Nadig beat Padmini Rout
5. Sitalatchumi lost to Soumya Swaminathan 6. S. Harini lost to
P. Uthra 7. Mohana Sengupta lost to P. Sivasankari 8. N. Raghavi
drew with Shrushti Shetty 9. Ch. Divyasri lost to P. Anusha 10. Priyanka
Kumari drew with Ketaki Kulkarni

Final standings : 1. WFM Bhakti Kulkarni (10 points), 2-6. WIM Mary Ann
Gomes, R. Preethi, WIM Soumya Swaminathan, WFM Pon. N. Krithika,
WIM Kruttika Nadig (8 points), 7-8. WIM P. Lakshmi Sahiti, P. Uthra (7.5
points) 9-10. Padmini Rout, P. Sivasankari (7 points).